Does it make difference which direction of pool you swim?

Former Member
Former Member
If the two ends of the pool have different depth, does it make difference to you whether you are swimming from the shallow end to deep end, or from deep to shallow? It makes difference to me. Sometimes I'm good one way, sometimes the other way. Even plain flutter kicking feels different, one way feels easier than the other.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Currents may be a factor. But even without that, I feel more buoyant on the deep side, maybe because the water flow more freely there?
  • Evanston Masters swims long course outside at Wilmette's Centennial Park pool in the summer. I don't think it really matters which lane you were in. There is a definite difference between the two directions. I generally swam in a middle lane (4,5,6, with the fastest swimmers always in lane 8). I imagine the currents ran the other way in the outer lanes. The middle was definitely not still water. Evanston used to host a meet at Centennial. I found results online from 2008. I thought they'd run that meet more recently, but I guess not. The meet results show 50s. If I recall correctly (it's been awhile since I swam there), the 50s would have been run in the "fast" direction, at least w.r.t. the middle lanes. I wonder if USMS has any rules regarding currents. If not, it might be a consideration if USMS ever decides to add 25s to the event roster, since SCY meets are so common.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    It may have less to do with the depth than with the circulation pumps. Try swimming in a lane that is dead center some time and see what that feels like. Often one side of a pool will have the current running one way and the other side it runs the other way, with the center as the relatively calm spot.
  • No one has addressed to me currents in a pool. I am sure they exist, how can I determine the current(s) in pools that I swim. I have been told that deeper pools are faster pools because of compressional waves generated as you swim through water, dissipate behind you. In a shallow pool the compressional waves do not have time to dissipate and can interfere with your forward motion. A person who is more versed, than I, could provide you the equation of the speed of compressional waves as related to swimming. I learned about the relationship of compressional waves as they relate to swimming last year.